JI for South Indian (carnatic) classical instruments

Hi,

I am a self-taught (read as amateur/beginner :) south
indian classical music (carnatic) enthusiast, and have
had a yamaha psr500 for a few years. Problem is, with
the pre-set tempered tunic on it, I can't render anything
to my satisfaction.

I am looking for both the JI tuning (12-notes or 16-notes)
(S r R g G m M P d D n N S) or
(S R1 R2 R3 G1 G2 G3 M1 M2 P D1 D2 D3 N1 N2 N3 S)

for specifically carnatic music, and a keyboard that
I can tune to the above, that is relatively cheap,
(hopefully $600 or so.)

I know nothing much about MIDI except for what it stands for,
however, if I do have to connect the instument to my PC
to get it tuned, I should be able to handle that.

Thanks
/Nara

--- In tuning@y..., "Nara Narasimhan" <nara19@y...> wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I am a self-taught (read as amateur/beginner :) south
> indian classical music (carnatic) enthusiast, and have
> had a yamaha psr500 for a few years. Problem is, with
> the pre-set tempered tunic on it, I can't render anything
> to my satisfaction.
>
> I am looking for both the JI tuning (12-notes or 16-notes)
> (S r R g G m M P d D n N S) or
> (S R1 R2 R3 G1 G2 G3 M1 M2 P D1 D2 D3 N1 N2 N3 S)

I'm not familiar with a 16-note tuning. The "Modern Indian Gamut" is
S 1/1
r 16/15
R 9/8
g 6/5
G 5/4
m 4/3
M 45/32
P 3/2
d 8/5
D 27/16
n 9/5
N 15/8
S 2/1

and the 22-tone sruti system is usually given today as
S 1/1
R1 256/243
R2 16/15
R3 10/9
R4 9/8
G1 32/27
G2 6/5
G3 5/4
G4 81/64
M1 4/3
M2 27/20
M3 45/32
M4 729/512 (occasionally given as 64/45 instead)
P 3/2
D1 128/81
D2 8/5
D3 5/3
D4 27/16
N1 16/9
N2 9/5
N3 15/8
N4 243/128
S 1/1

Perhaps the 16-note system is more of a Carnatic than a Hindustani
phenomenon . . . the sruti system is cited by musicians of both traditions.

> for specifically carnatic music, and a keyboard that
> I can tune to the above, that is relatively cheap,
> (hopefully $600 or so.)

You can probably find a used Ensoniq VFX or VFX-SD for that price. For many
other options, check John Loffink's Microtonal Synthesis website.